Zorro: Being Rebooted as a TV Series with a Female Playing the Masked Swashbuckler
Ready to bring back one of the most legendary television and film characters of all-time? The swashbuckling masked hero is returning once again. Zorro is headed back to the small screen for NBC thanks to Sofia Vergara and Robert Rodriguez but this time, with a twist!
According to Deadline, “NBC is developing Zorro, a contemporary take on the classic masked vigilante character with a gender swap. It comes from a high-profile creative team, which includes filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, writer-director Rebecca Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara and her LatinWe, as well as Ben Siverman and Howard T. Owens’ Propagate. CBS Studios, where Propagate has a deal, will co-produce with Universal TV.”
The article notes that Zorro will be co-written by the brother and sister duo of Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez and to be directed by Rebecca, Zorro centers on Sola Dominguez, an underground artist who fights for social justice as contemporary version of the mythical Zorro. Her life is threatened by several criminal organizations after she exposes them.
Robert Rodriguez was attached to direct The Mask of Zorro and cast Antonio Banderas as the title role before leaving the feature project. In TV, he developed and executive produced the series adaptation of his movie From Dusk Till Dawn for his TV network El Rey and also executive produced the Spy Kids animated series offshoot for Netflix. He recently directed an episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian.
Zorro (Spanish for ‘Fox’) is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, and appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante who defends the commoners and indigenous peoples of California against corrupt and tyrannical officials and other villains. His signature all-black costume includes a cape, a hat known as a sombrero cordobés, and a mask covering the upper half of his face.
Zorro is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega (originally Don Diego Vega), a young man who is the only son of Don Alejandro de la Vega, the richest landowner in California, while Diego’s mother is dead. In most versions, Diego learned his swordsmanship while at university in Spain, and created his masked alter ego after he was unexpectedly summoned home by his father because California had fallen into the hands of an oppressive dictator.
The Mask of Zorro brought the character back into popular culture in 1998. In that film, after being imprisoned for 20 years, Zorro — Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) — receives word that his old enemy, Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson), has returned. Don Diego escapes and returns to his old headquarters, where he trains aimless drunk Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas) to be his successor. Meanwhile, Montero — who has secretly raised Diego’s daughter, Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), as his own — hatches a plot to rob California of its gold.
Are you excited about Zorro coming back and what are your thoughts on a female lead? Let us know in the comments below!
Covering superheroes, anything dark, horror, and more! Lead writer for Fan Fest
Yes I look forward to the new Zorro